For whatever reason, this was a hard week for me to get excited about. There were some compelling divisional matchups for sure, but there was something missing this week. And I think the teams felt it too. There was a lack of urgency in the games. It kind of felt like half the league took the week off.

It feels like 10-7 is going to be the bottom line for the NFC and a team from the AFC will likely make the playoffs at 9-8. So over the next two to three weeks we’ll start seeing teams that are, for all practical purposes, done with their season. New Orleans and Las Vegas have thrown in the towel after this week – firing coaches isn’t the way to spark a winning streak, just ask the Jets.

I’m hoping this was an outlier week. We should get a better slate of games next week, with teams that are ready to fight for their seasons.

Ok, enough with the doom and gloom, let’s talk about the games:

HOU @ NYJ
The story of this game was the Houston offensive line and the pressure on CJ Stroud. In the second half, the Texans made adjustments – throwing on first down, moving the pocket to get Stroud more time. But the receivers still could not get open consistently downfield. The Jets did what they needed to do on offense, they ran the ball enough and got a couple of big plays in the passing game. The defense showed up, and for the first time in a while, the Jets looked like they played a complete game.

LV @ CIN
First of all, the Bengals played a great game, Burrow especially. This was the get back game they needed. The Raiders offense is awful, I’m not going to beat a dead horse there. The defense was what I keyed in on. When you give up five touchdown passes, you need to evaluate the secondary. But what I saw surprised me. It wasn’t the secondary that was the problem – it was the linebackers. Most of the passes were up the middle, Burrow was using his big guys to overwhelm the coverage of the linebackers. But not only that, Chase was running wild. What should have been three or four yard gains turned in to twenty because either Spillane or Deablo missed a tackle. It was so bad that in the second half Moehrig was brought up to play the third linebacker spot – helping to stop the run and covering tight ends in coverage. The outside corners for the Raiders actually played great games.

DAL @ ATL
Here’s the good for Dallas – Dowdle is starting to look like a starting running back. The bad news? If the injuries to Dak and CeeDee are serious, this season is over. Atlanta has their own injury questions to answer. Once London left the game, I expected Kyle Pitts to fill his role. But Pitts was no where to be seen in the second half. The Falcons have enough weapons to overcome the loss of one receiver, but this is the time Pitts needs to step up. If he can’t? Maybe he’s not a Falcon next year.

DEN @ BAL
Well we all expected a fired up Ravens team to bully and beat up the Broncos. And that’s what we got. Complacency is going to be the biggest opponent for the Ravens this year. They have to keep this kind of intensity throughout the rest of the season.

MIA @ BUF
I keep expecting to see the big plays out of this Miami offense, but maybe they are just a power running team that relies on yards after contact. They didn’t get the win, but this was a good showing against a Bills team that has been blowing out teams at home. The Bills should be concerned about how the Miami offensive line was able to push them around. If their embattled kicker hadn’t made the kick of his career at the end of regulation this game could have gone a different direction.

NO @ CAR
The game was bad, New Orleans lost, Dennis Allen got fired. These aren’t surprising. I’m going to talk about the throw to Olave. Mike Thomas, who has been a vocal critic of Derek Carr, was highly critical of both Carr and the throw. Carr for his part, defended the throw as the right read based on the coverage and a bad luck part of football for the injury. Here’s what I saw.

Olave ran an in-route against the single high coverage. On this route, the receiver needs to plant his outside foot, and cut straight across the field. Olave rounded off his route – instead of a cut he simply turned while running. The turn changed the depth of the route, kept his defender on his back, and turned his route so that it was running directly at the safety in the middle of the field. Had he made a hard cut, he would have been underneath the safety and could present a wide target for Carr. For his part, Carr threw a horrible ball – high and behind the receiver. It was the exact opposite of the pass he needed to throw – low and short. Carr’s pass exposed Olave to the hit, his arms were up, his eyes were looking back, and he had no way to defend himself. Had the pass been low and short, Olave would have come inside the safety, been able to reach down for the pass, and protect himself from the hit that was coming.

LAC @ CLE
When I look at what makes a franchise quarterback, one of the tests is whether or not the quarterback can elevate the players around him. Herbert is showing that he can do just that. The guys he’s throwing to are not household names, but he’s still getting productive passing games out of them. As their chemistry improves, the offense is becoming more explosive. Cleveland’s offense was hurt by a Bad Jameis day. I wonder if they wish Amari Cooper was still in Cleveland?

WAS @ NYG
Washington did what good teams do – they found a way to win a game when they weren’t playing their best. Even better for them, it was a division game. Ekeler has done a good job in relief, but this offense needs to get Robinson Jr back. Daniel Jones was game on Sunday, but this is a team that simply has to play perfect to win. It’s an unfair position to put any quarterback in, but it’s the situation they are in and Jones will continue to carry the bulk of the blame for the Giants struggles – whether or not it’s warranted.

NE @ TEN
Was this a big win for Tennessee? Both teams have played better than their record this season. The game probably wouldn’t have been this close if they could get consistent play out of their quarterback position. By contrast, I continue to be impressed with Drake Maye the more I see him play. He has winning intangibles. His problem is the lack of talent around him. If this Tennessee team had Drake Maye as their quarterback, they could be leading the AFC South.

CHI @ ARI
What are the problems Chicago has had all year? Williams holding the ball too long and the defense not being able to stop the run. What problems did Chicago have against Arizona? Williams holding the ball too long and the defense not being able to stop the run. Let’s add incompetent coaching to that list though. Risking your quarterback’s health at the end of a blowout is just ridiculous.

I Still haven’t figured out if Arizona is a good team or just one of those irritating .500 teams that plays spoiler all season long.

JAX @ PHI
If Philly lost this game after Saquon leapt over a defender backwards, I don’t know what would have happened in that stadium – but it wouldn’t have been good. I’ve watched and rewatched that play a dozen times. I warned that this was the kind of game the Eagles would lose for no other reason than they are the Eagles and it almost happened. Once AJ Brown left the game, you could see the energy drop and the offense just seemed off.

Jacksonville is still playing hard which is a good sign for the coaching staff. Trevor Lawrence had a heck of a second half trying to single handedly win this game for his team.

DET @ GB
I said that Green Bay probably wanted a later home game against the Lions – bad weather, cold air all that stuff. But it looked like Detroit was much more prepared to play in bad weather than this Packers team. There’s a lot of hate online for Jordan Love – especially for the pick six at the end of the first half. I understand it. It was a bad play, and we can argue the injury or the conditions contributed – but everyone at this stage of the season is hurt in some way and everyone was playing in the same conditions. It was one of the gunslinger moments in Love’s career. He’s going to have more of them. But he’s also going to have amazing throws down the field. Let’s not crush the young man for a bad decision.

Detroit continues to be the class of the league. Winning outside in bad conditions is exactly the thing they needed to cross off the list before the playoffs. They don’t have to prove anything to us the fans or them the sportswriters. But quietly, in the locker room, I gotta believe this was a big deal for them.

LAR @ SEA
Turnovers. Turnovers. Turnovers.

An exciting game, sure, but sloppy. No respect for the football, both teams giving it away and putting their defenses in a hole. Besides the interceptions, there is obviously some kind of issue between Geno Smith and his center. Can the Seahawks offense find time to hand the ball off? It might be a good way to move the ball for the next few games.

Still don’t understand the rumors around trading Cooper Kupp. This division is winnable, and Stafford is the best quarterback in the AFC West. Why not do everything to make a run?

IND @ MIN
When coaches talk about not making mistakes and drives that end with kicks are ok, this is the kind of game that proves them right. Minnesota was able to move the ball all over the field Sunday night. Indianapolis struggled. Their longest drive was only 44 yards. Their first two scores came from a Minnesota fumble and a missed field goal. Had Minnesota been able to make their field goal attempts and protect the ball better, this would have been a blowout.

TB @ KC
I mean really, how long can this brand of football be sustainable? I thought maybe the Chiefs had broken through early in the first half with Hopkins getting downfield. But then they go back to the power run and physical defense mode and just grind out a close win. I keep thinking it’s going to catch up to them, and so far it hasn’t.

Tampa played a very good game and really fought the whole game. I feel like if the weather had held out, they might have been able to pull the upset.